OP-ED: The new hobby of lobbying for Chanukah
BY EDMON JACE
Go figure. In a week that the Pew Research Center announced there are 6.8 million Jews in America, it was also reported that Hobby Lobby, a national chain of 561 craft goods stores does not carry any Chanukah merchandise–not a dreidel, nor a festival decoration, not a single paper Maccabee.
Ken Berwitz, on the blog “Hopelessly Partisan” reported about a friend who had been told by a Hobby Lobby store worker in Marlboro, New Jersey–an area near many synagogues– “We don’t cater to you people,” after asking if the store carried bar mitzvah cards.
Berwitz called the store and made his own inquiries about whether they carried Chanukah merchandise. He was told they did not and was given as an explanation “Because Mr. Green is the owner of the company, he’s a Christian, and those are his values.”
David Green, who according to Forbes is a devout Christian multi-billionaire, is the CEO of Hobby Lobby.
Representatives of Hobby Lobby, caught up in a controversy as sticky as wet decoupage, have since announced that the company, whose offices are located in Oklahoma City, “is currently working with our buyers over our merchandise selection.”
While mulling over the news, the name, “Green” somehow stuck in my head like it had been affixed with something really tacky. Turns out earlier the same week, an organization called the Green Collection- named after the Green family because they financially support it – and self-described as “One of the world’s largest private collections of biblical texts and artifacts,” announced they were the proud owners of the world’s oldest Jewish prayer book.
“This find is historical evidence supporting the very fulcrum of Jewish religious life,” trumpeted Dr. Jerry Pattengale, executive director of the Green Scholars Initiative, which undertakes research for the Green Collection.
After putting the pieces of this story together like a Popsicle stick project gone bad, I could not help but observe that to the Green, it seems Jews were historically significant enough to make a display one of our ancient prayer books–but somehow not worthy enough to acknowledge our current existence in today’s marketplace.
As my own craft project, I went online and checked out Hobby Lobby’s selection of holiday goods. When I typed into their search box “Christmas” I got 345 results including stickers, toppers, and every imaginable piece of holiday chazerai. Yet, when I typed in the word “Hanukkah,” and “Hanukkah,” not one item came up. Finally, after typing in “Chanukah” I got the query, “Are you searching for ‘change?'”
Indeed.
By comparison, a search under the “Holiday” heading on Oriental Trading, a craft and party goods company with a national catalog both in print and online, yielded in addition to “Christmas,” an entire heading for “Hanukkah” containing 77 items including dreidels, Hanukkah decorations, even a very hot looking Hanukkah flame hat.
Not that I want to turn up the heat.
According to Hobby Lobby’s website, as an organization they are committed to “Honoring the Lord in all we do by operating the company in a manner consistent with biblical principles.” What principles are those? Certainly not “Honoring thy neighbor.” And by not recognizing our current needs to celebrate Jewish holidays, and by treating our culture like some kind of fossil to be put on display, can somebody please tell me whose Lord is being honored?
